Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  Social Skills

AUTHOR:  Sara Alva

NARRATOR:  Andrew Eiden 

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH:  10 hours and 14 minutes

BLURB:  

Music is the only form of communication Connor Owens controls. No matter how badly he wishes to fit in, friendly banter and casual conversations have never been his thing. College is yet another social universe he has no clue how to navigate—until he meets Jared, a football player with chestnut eyes and a cocky grin that holds the power to shatter his self-imposed prison. 

Jared’s attention opens Connor up to a new realm of emotional and physical intimacy. But as Connor’s self-confidence grows, so does his fear that everything will fall apart. Because in this socially stratified world, how long can a relationship between an introverted violinist and a closeted football player really last?

REVIEW:  

Well…this is a bit different. I’ve actually only wrote one audiobook review before (not for Love Bytes) so I’m still finding my way thru how I want to do this. Hopefully I do a good job, because I was quite happy to get a chance to review an audio version of this book.

I read Social Skills when it first came out, but it has been so long since then that I only had a vague recollection of really liking this story, but not much else. So when I started to listen to this audiobook, it was almost as if it was a new story, instead of just a reread. That was good since it kept my attention thru the whole 10 hours of this book.

Connor Owens is someone that I identify with quite a bit. He is shy, and doesn’t really know how to talk to people even when he wants to. His mind over analyzes everything, so that when he finally does figure out what to say the conversation has moved on by three different topics, or by several days. This is something I am very familiar with. But where I use words on the page to calm and center myself, Conner has his music.

And can I just say that the violin is probably my favorite instrument ever? Because it is. Granted in the wrong hands it could invoke the desire to shove the violinist’s bow up their nether regions, but when done correctly it has such beauty and sadness. I wish there had been an option to have violin music playing in the background of this audio book, because I kept wanting to hear what Connor was playing. Partly because I love the music, but also because a lot of the technical music jargon flew over my head. I guess that one semester of playing saxophone in my middle school band didn’t really impart the musical wisdom of the ages…because, yeah, I had no clue what a lot of the stuff he was talking about was. Not that it hurt the story, but it would have been nice to understand a bit more.

Connor does start to come out of his shell though. Through the help of his friends, but also by Jared’s prodding. And while I have mixed feelings about how Jared freaked out at even the mention of the possibility of coming out, I get that that is something that is quite scary. So yeah, I wanted him to man-up and stop hurting Connor by insisting that no one must know about them, I get that he just wasn’t ready. Unfortunately, by the time he is ready, he almost loses it all anyways.

I had a rather different college experience from Connor and all these folks. But still there was something nostalgically familiar about it all. The stress of classes only compounded by the stress of trying to find a new group of friends, is offset by new experiences and getting the time to finally figure out who you are. Neither Jared or Connor really know who they want to be–except perhaps someone who is a bit more free from the rules and walls they put around themselves–but they help each other find that, if only after a lot of tears.

As to the narration of this book, I have to say I was very impressed. I don’t have a lot of experience in listening to m/m audiobooks, but I have been thru quite a few m/f ones, and finding a narrator that is able to tell the story in a way that you sink into the story is something I have a hard time finding. Andrew Eiden, made me forget that I was being told a story, and just let me live it instead. Which I loved. And he did a great job with character dialogue. I had no problem understanding who was talking, even when in a large group, and each character had their own personality and inflection so that I could instantly recognize who was talking. Connor also came alive under Eiden’s voice, and the subtle nuances of his character, the emotions and reactions he had, felt very much like Conner, not Eiden reading Conner.

Overall this was a very pleasant experience. The story was really great, and the narration was wonderful. If you are on the lookout for a good mm audiobook, I totally recommend you pick this up, even if you have already read the print/ebook versions.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

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